Harold Norse
Harold Norse (July 6, 1916 - June 8, 2009) was an American poet who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. An expatriate artist of the Beat generation, Norse was widely published and anthologized. Life Norse was born Harold Rosen, to an unmarried Lithuanian Jewish immigrant in Brooklyn, New York City.[http://www.glbtq.com/literature/norse_h.html "Norse, Harold", glbtq, on line.] In the early 1950s, he came up with the new last name, Norse, by rearranging the letters in Rosen"Harold Norse, a Beat Poet, Dies at 92", New York Times, Saturday, June 13, 2009, p A15. He earned a B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1938, where he edited the literary magazine.[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/14/BABV183SHI.DTL Peter Fimrite, "Beat poet Harold Norse dies at 92", San Francisco Chronicle (June 14, 2009)] Norse met Chester Kallman in 1938, and then became a part of W.H. Auden's "inner circle" when Auden moved to the U.S. in 1939. (Kallman and Auden later became lifelong partners.) Soon Norse was publishing in Poetry, the'' Saturday Review,'' and the Paris Review. He earned a master's degree in literature from New York University in 1951. His debut book of poems, The Undersea Mountain, was published in 1953. During 1954-1959 Norse lived and wrote in Italy. He penned the experimental cut-up novel Beat HotelBeat Hotel German tr. Maro Verlag, Augsburg, West Germany (1975); in the original English, Atticus Press (1983) ISBN 0-912377-01-1. in 1960 while living in Paris with William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso from 1959 to 1963. He traveled to Tangier, where he stayed with Jane and Paul Bowles. Returning to America in 1968, Norse arrived in Venice, California, near Charles Bukowski. He moved to San Francisco in 1972 and lived in that city's Mission District for the last 35 years of his life. Memoirs of a Bastard Angel traces Norse's life and literary career with Auden, Christopher Isherwood, E.E. Cummings, Tennessee Williams, William Carlos Williams, James Baldwin, Dylan Thomas, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Paul Bowles, Charles Bukowski, Robert Graves and Anaïs Nin.[http://www.sfweekly.com/2000-11-08/news/the-return-of-the-bastard-angel/1 The Return of the Bastard Angel by Mark Athitakis, SF Weekly, November 8, 2000] Writing Norse found himself allied with William Carlos Williams, who rated Norse the "best poet of his generation." Norse broke with traditional verse forms and embraced a more direct, conversational language.The American Idiom: A Correspondence, with William Carlos Williams (San Francisco: Bright Tyger Press, 1990) ISBN 0-944378-79-X With Carnivorous Saint: Gay poems, 1941-1976, Norse became a leading gay liberation poet. His collected poems, In the Hub of the Fiery Force, appeared in 2003. Recognition Norse was a 2-time National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, and a National Poetry Association award winner. Publications Poetry *''The Undersea Mountain''. Denver, CO: Swallow Press, 1953. *''The Dancing Beasts''. New York: Macmillan, 1962. *''Olé, Open Skull'' (with tributes to Norse by William Carlos Williams, Anaïs Nin, James Baldwin, Charles Bukowski et al.) Bensenville, IL: 1966. *''Karma Circuit'' (20 poems & a preface by Norse). London: Nothing Doing in London, 1967; San Francisco, CA: Panjandrum, 1974. *''Christmas on Earth'' (broadside). New York: Minkoff Rare Editions, 1968. *''Penguin Modern Poets #13'' (by Charles Bukowski, Philip Lamantia, & Harold Norse). Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1969. *''Hotel Nirvana: Selected poems, 1953-1973''. San Francisco, CA: City Lights, 1974. *''I See America Daily''. Berkeley, CA: Mother's Hen, 1974. *''Carnivorous Saint: Gay poems, 1941-1976'' (illustrated by HN). San Francisco: Gay Sunshine, 1977. *''Mysteries of Magritte''. San Diego, CA: Atticus, 1984. *''The Love Poems, 1940-1985''. Trumansburg, NY: Crossing Press, 1986. * In the Hub of the Fiery Force: Collected poems, 1934-2003. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003.Harold Norse, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. Web, Mar. 21, 2013. Novel *''Beat Hotel'' (preface by William S. Burroughs), Atticus,1983. (defunct), **in German (translated by Carl Weissner). Augsburg, West Germany: Maro Verlag, 1975. **in Italian (translated by Giulio Saponaro). Caneggio, Switzerland: Stamperia della Frontiera, 1985. Non-Fiction *''Memoirs of a Bastard Angel'' (autobiography; preface by James Baldwin). New York: William Morrow, 1989; London: Bloomsbury, 1990 **in French (translated by Richard Crevier). Paris & Monte Carlo, Monaco: Editions du Rocher, 1991 **in German (translated by Carl Weissner and Walter Hartmann). Hamburg: Rogner und Bernhard, 1992. Translated *Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli'', The Roman Sonnets'' (with preface by William Carlos Williams & introduction by Alberto Moravia)., Highlands, NC: Jargon, 1960; London: Villiers, 1974; Van Nuys, CA: Perivale, 1974. Letters *''The American Idiom: A correspondence: William Carlos Williams & Harold Norse, 1951-61'' (edited by John J. Wilson). San Francisco, CA: Bright Tyger, 1990. Except where noted bibliographical information courtesy the American Museum of Beat Art.Harold Norse Bibliography, Harold Norse: A Brief Biography, American Museum of Beat Art. Web, Mar. 21, 2013. See also *Beat poets *List of U.S. poets References * Harold Norse, James Baldwin, Anais Nin, William S. Burroughs, William Carlos Williams, Paul Carroll, Jack Hirschman, "Harold Norse Special Issue", Olé, No. 5 (Bensenville, IL: Open Skull Press, n.d., 1966?) Fonds * The Harold Norse Papers (1934–1980, 8,000 items) are archived at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.Norse Mss. 1934-1980, Lilly Library Manuscript Collections Notes External links ;Poems *"I'm Not a Man" *Two Poems by Harold Norse at Exquisite Corpse *Harold Norse at PoemHunter (8 poems) ;Books * ;Audio / video *Harold Norse at YouTube ;About *Harold Norseat glbtq *Harold Norse Biography, with bibliography *[http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-harold-norse13-2009jun13,0,7672432.story Los Angeles Times obituary] *[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/arts/music/13norse.html?scp=1&sq=harold%20norse&st=cse New York Times obituary] *[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/14/BABV183SHI.DTL San Francisco Chronicle obituary] *[http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jun/17/obituary-harold-norse Guardian obituary] *Remembering Harold Norse at Exquisite Corpse. *Harold Norse Official website Category:Brooklyn College alumni Category:New York University alumni Category:Gay writers Category:Beat Generation writers Category:American expatriates in France Category:American expatriates in Italy Category:American expatriates in Morocco Category:People associated with Charles Bukowski Category:Outlaw poets Category:LGBT writers from the United States Category:1916 births Category:2009 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:American poets Category:Beat Generation poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:LGBT poets